April is National Poetry Month! We are thrilled to announce Maryland’s 2022 Poetry Out Loud State Champion, and we are also presenting a free professional development session led by Grace Cavalieri, Maryland’s Poet Laureate, later this month. See details below.
Grace was appointed Poet Laureate on November 7, 2018 by Governor Larry Hogan and is the author of 26 books and chapbooks of poetry, including What The Psychic Said (Goss Publishing 2020;) Showboat (Goss Publishing, 2019;) and Other Voices, Other Lives (ASP, 2017). You can find more about her teaching throughout the country and the series she produces and hosts "The Poet and the Poem," which has highlighted over 2,000 poets since 1977, on our website by clicking here.
Throughout the pandemic, Grace has continued her tireless work teaching people, believing that every person has a story and is entitled to write. She encourages everyone to find a voice of their own through poetic expression, working with writers of all ages, from a group started in 1972 at Antioch College to a high school mentee in Montgomery County. She paints too and is thrilled that Maryland will be represented on the moon when her poetry lands in a lunar time capsule later this year. Grace believes that “We each have a story. My story is not yours; You have your own story; and no one else has one like it.”
Join us in celebrating poetry and Maryland poets this month!
Steven Skerritt-Davis, Executive Director
Keyonna Penick, Executive Assistant and Council Liaison
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ARTS IN EDUCATION: POETRY OUT LOUD |
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Harrison Lynch from The King’s Christian Academy in St. Mary’s County was selected as the Poetry Out Loud (POL) Maryland state champion on March 10th during state finals. He was among eight finalists who were selected from 25 Maryland students representing 13 counties that competed in the statewide competitions. The POL poetry recitation contest is co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and The Poetry Foundation, and administered by U.S. state arts agencies and regional organizations across the country. The Maryland POL competition is produced by MSAC. Click here to learn more.
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Congratulations to this month's grantees! Click here for a full list.
Available to both Independent Artists and Arts Organizations, Creativity Grants provide project-based support to artists and organizations and general operating support to organizations only. The application focuses primarily on community engagement and impact. Grants are available for up to $3,500. Click here for further details and the full program guidelines.
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EMERGENCY GRANTS FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS |
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Emergency Grants were reopened on March 6! The purpose of the Emergency Grant program is to support the needs of independent artists as they adjust to income losses as the result of an emergency situation (including, but not limited to, the ongoing impact of the pandemic). Applications for the Emergency Grant program are accepted on a rolling basis with a monthly review process. Grants are available for up to $2,000. Click here for further details and the full program guidelines.
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Stills from a documentary short film on the 2021-2022 sharecropper-style quilting Folklife Apprenticeship team produced by Wide Angle Youth Media for MSAC.
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Maryland Traditions staff are excited to present a documentary short film featuring master artist Catherine Wooten (Howard County) teaching sharecropper-style quilting to apprentice artist Suzanne Coley (Baltimore County) in a 2021-2022 Folklife Apprenticeship.
Site visits consisting of professional photo and video recording are made available free of charge to recipients of the Folklife Apprenticeship and Heritage Award to document them and their traditions. This film is the first of a series of documentary short films featuring the 2021-2022 Folklife Apprenticeship teams and the 2022 Heritage Awardees that MSAC will be releasing this year.
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MARYLAND TOURING GRANTS & TOURING ROSTER |
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Touring Grants support the presentation of an artist or ensemble from the Maryland Touring Roster at your organization’s location or venue. Grants are available for up to $5,000; applications may include more than one Touring Roster artist/ensemble for multiple performances/events. Click here for further details and the full program guidelines.
Performing artists from across the state are invited to apply to join the Maryland Touring Roster! Those included on the Touring Roster are available to “take their show on the road” and perform throughout Maryland. If accepted onto the Touring Roster, organizations/venues are then able to apply for a Touring Grant to support bringing you to their location/venue. Click here for further details and the full program guidelines.
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MSAC presents the Maryland Regional Virtual Exhibition Series, showcasing multidisciplinary artists from across the state. The year-long series continues with Series #3: Central Maryland, featuring 46 art pieces created by 45 artists residing in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard counties, and Baltimore City. The exhibition shows a variety of visual artworks that use many different mediums and scales. Two works by performing artists and one short animation are also included in this exhibition. Check out the online exhibition through May 13.
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PUBLIC ART ACROSS MARYLAND |
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The latest Public Art Across Maryland Grant Awards have been announced. In the third quarter of FY22, a total of $147,045 in grants will be awarded. The Prince Georges Arts & Humanities Council was awarded a $50,000 Public Art Conservation Grant, while nine organizations and independent artists were awarded New Artworks Grants to support the planning and implementation of upcoming projects. The full list is available under the Grants Awarded section at the links above.
The fourth and final Public Art Across Maryland grant application deadline for FY22 is May 13 at 5 p.m. Any artists or organizations interested in applying are welcome and encouraged to contact staff with ideas or questions before the application deadline.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT & UPCOMING EVENTS |
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Available to both independent artists and arts organizations, this grant helps learn or develop an identified area of growth. Grants are available for up to $2,000. Further details and the full program guidelines can be found by clicking here.
As always, we offer free virtual professional development training each month!
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As part of National Poetry Month, join Maryland's Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri, for “Writing for Life” an upcoming interactive professional development session hosted by MSAC on April 19, from 2-3 p.m. Click here for registration information. Grace uses poetry as her vehicle to teach and motivate others and she encourages everyone to find a voice of their own through poetic expression, and she looks forward to guiding writers of all experience levels through a variety of tools to help everyone tell their own stories.
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Questions? Contact the MSAC staff person for the program you’re interested in learning more about.
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NEW ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM DIRECTOR |
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Lizzie Morales joined the Maryland State Arts Council in March 2022 as the Arts in Education Program Director. Prior to joining MSAC, Lizzie worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where she managed arts education and arts integration programs for teachers and schools. Lizzie has also held various positions at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Before she began her career in arts administration, Lizzie worked as an ESL teacher in South Korea, Peru, and in the Washington DC Metro area. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, College Park. With over a decade of experience in the field of arts education, Lizzie is delighted to support arts education programs across the state of Maryland.
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The MSAC Online Resource Bulletin, maintained by Maryland Art Place, includes regional, national, and international exhibition opportunities, public art opportunities, grants, fellowships, residencies, artist registries, and information on available studio spaces in the area. The Resource Bulletin is updated throughout the month, so click here to see what new opportunities have been posted!
Do you have something to add? Email Caitlin Gill at caitlin@mdartplace.org.
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The Maryland State Arts Council is committed to making sure all Marylanders can access its programs and services. Guests with further accessibility questions or who require accommodations may fill out the Accommodations Request Form or contact the MSAC Office Secretary at msac.commerce@maryland.gov.
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